Bulldog Bites

Nov 18, 2003

Matthew Baker
I worked as an administrator at the Kingsbury Center, a day school, testing center, and tutoring center for kids with learning disabilities, located in Washington DC.
I sang for five years in the Washington National Cathedral Choir for men and boys.
The camaraderie between the players is what I like most about Yale football.

Tim Barrett
I worked at Yale with commencement and reunions.
You find yourself surrounded by so many people with incredible potential. I don't believe I've met a single person here who doesn't think they can make a tremendous impact on society.

Tony Bellino
I was an undergraduate recruitment coordinator for Yale. I did admission data
analysis, hosted student forums with fellow football player Brady Clegg, and also gave tours.
In high school I was really into computer programing and used to go to computer programming competitions.
One of my favorite things about Yale football was going to D-Line dinners last year. I also really enjoyed the Tuesday and Thursday running sessions this summer.

Will Blodgett
I stayed in New Haven to train with Coach Novak for the upcoming season. While I was at Yale, I took two classes and worked at the Yale Office of Facilities with teammates Nate Lawrie and Freddy Jelks. I took a bunch of road trips with guys on the team and made a lot of personal gains, both in the classroom and in the weight room. Overall, it was a very productive summer.
My freshman year I was practicing with the varsity, doing our pass game. Jeff Mroz threw me a post ball that I thought I had a chance of getting even though I knew it was very close to the goal post. I obviously didn't know exactly how close because while I was running full speed with my arms fully stretched I ran smack into the middle of
the unpadded, wooden post. I have yet to hear the end of this from my teammates and coaches.
The Yale experience was something that I always heard about but never really understood until I got here. I love the way the students at Yale interact with one another, it doesn't matter what team or club you are in. You can be friends with someone who is not involved in the same things that you are. I love the bond that our team shares. Throughout all the early morning runs and countless hours of practice, I have developed friendships that I know will last for the rest of my life.

Ben Breunig
I spent the month of June interning for the Staubach (as in the NFL Hall of Fame QB) Company in New York City. The Staubach Company is a commercial real estate company.
The best part about the Yale football team is the group of players
that I get to play with.

PJ Collins
I interned for Refco in New York, working a month on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange in crude oil options and futures, and then a month in the fixed income department.
I live in a house with 10 other guys, six of whom are on the football team: Alvin Cowan, Nate Lawrie, Tate Rich, Jonas Rodriguez, Barton Simmons, and Chad Almy.
My favorite thing about Yale is the campus because you can just feel its long history in any building. My favorite thing about the football program is my teammates.

Will Conroy
I worked at Fox News Channel on the show "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren. I worked as an intern, but basically had producing duties which included: booking guests, cutting tape, and writing for various segments.
In high school, my first varsity experience came as a kicker. In the third game of the season, our kicker got thrown out of the game before halftime, and the coach came in the locker room and asked us who could kick. Being a naive freshman, I put my hand in the air and told him I could. To start the second half, I lined up as the kicker on the kickoff team and proceeded to kick the ball almost vertical, I mean straight up in the air. The good news was that the kick was so short, I was able to make the tackle. Needless to say, my kicking duties ended immediately after the game.
My favorite element of Yale football is certainly the tradition, coupled with the amazing friendships I've formed on this team. These guys are the best around, and I am extremely grateful to have gotten the chance to spend the last three years with them.

Tyson Crawford
This Summer I worked as in intern for the Corporate Financing Office of the Russian Oil company Lukoil. I lived in a hotel in Moscow for the first two months of the summer and rode the Moscow Metro to work every morning. I lived in Moscow with my family from 1992-1996, which was a great period to watch Russia develop and adjust to democracy and a free economy. I took Russian as a child living in Moscow and continued it in college where this past year I finished third-year Russian at Yale. Working for the summer in Moscow was a great opportunity for me to polish up my Russian and to get some international business experience.
The academic opportunities at Yale are second to none. Spending so much time every day with the guys on the team, whether on the field or in the weight room, builds a great camaraderie between players.

Steve Ehikian
This summer I worked for a technology start-up company in Sunnyvale, Calif. I worked in the areas of financial analysis, website design, marketing, and software testing. Also, for the Fourth of July, I flew to Austin, Texas to meet up with about 10 guys from the football team. We stayed with Alvin Cowan, and he took us everywhere from his high school in Westlake to Willie Nelson's Fourth of July picnic.
In the locker room, we all play pranks on each other. My sophomore year, I had a meeting at Smilow before a Friday walk-through practice. When I returned to my locker, I found my lock covered in tape. This person (Alvin Cowan) did not use one continuous roll of tape, but rather many small pieces to cover my lock. I was late to that practice because it took me a half hour to remove the tape to open my locker and get my cleats.
Every summer I spend a weekend with my friends from high school and our fathers traveling to different baseball stadiums around the country. I have seen a game at almost every stadium. My favorites are PacBell Park in San Francisco, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Ken Estrera
I worked for the Association of Yale Alumni organizing class reunions and I took a physics laboratory course. I also did research for a doctor at the Yale medical school who works with veterans with Gulf War Syndrome. In addition, I started a small business on Ebay. My title is President and CEO of 131 Howe Enterprises.
I have a metal plate in my leg, I wear braces, and I have the largest head on the team. I have made several documentary movies including: "Remember the Alamo," "In The Family: Organized Crime on Campus," "The Real Key West," and "Montreal: Karaoke Dreams." I am one of a handful of people who has beaten Mike Tyson in the 2nd round on Punchout for Nintendo.
Definitely my favorite thing is the friendships I have made while I have been here. In a close second is the exquisite architecture of Gothic, colonial, and modern styles that reflect and embrace the spirit of Yale.

Brandon Etheridge
I am an exhorter in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and am licensed to preach in any A.M.E pulpit. I have preached three sermons, the most recent in August and July of this year.
I was recruited to play football at Yale after playing just one real season of High School football. I started playing football in 8th grade and was the tight end on a team that never threw the ball. My freshman year in high school I was a third-string cornerback and second-string wide reciever on the freshman/sophomore football team. I quit at the end of the year to focus on basketball and played basketball year round for the next three years. At the end of my sophomore year the football coach from my high school, Dom Damico, invited me into his office and told me I should consider playing football in my junior year. I thanked him for his offer but told him that basketball was my sport and that I wanted to focus on that. At the end of my junior year he called me in again and asked me if I liked my recruiting offers. I told him not really, and he told me to come out to play football, since now being a senior I had nothing to lose. So I went out my senior year to play football as a 6-foot-4, 178-pound defensive end (yes, it is possible for me to be skinnier than I am now), having no knowledge of the game of football. I simply lined up and was told to just get the quarterback. I guess I did an okay job because late in the season, I sent out a few highlight tapes and I recieved a call from Coach MacDonald, saying that he would like for me to become a Yale Bulldog, and the rest is history. I am now a 6-foot-4 200-pound defensive end.

Bert Ferrara
I was born in London, England and lived there for five years.
Also, this summer I sold CUTCO cutlery and won an award for being of one the top district sales representatives.

Matt Handlon
I had a lawn mowing service and tried to golf as much as possible.
I almost chose to play tennis in high school over football.
The best thing about Yale football is the closeness of the team and staff.

John Kaufman
I visited my brother in London. I also worked at a restaurant in San Diego as a waiter. I spent my free time working out, surfing and fishing.
My favorite thing about Yale is the quality of the guys on the team.

Nate Lawrie
I enjoy working with my hands and building things. I built a bar at my house (The Barn) on campus that is complete with a built in "kegerator" and a foot rest.
This past summer I went on the Oxford/Cambridge tour with the Yale and Harvard track teams. I won the shotput in the Yale/Harvard vs. Oxford/Cambridge track meet that was held at Cambridge, England.
I aspire to play football and have a big family.
My uncle played football at Princeton and we have an inner-family rivalry.

Greg Owens
I recently started a company called S.T.A.R (Student Testing and Academic Resources). It is primarily a test prep company focusing on the ACT and The Ohio Graduation Test. We also provide tutoring and hold math workshops for students of all ages.

Drew Palin
I worked as an intern at an investment bank in Mequon, Wisc., called Reinhart & Mahoney. I was in the fixed income department. I also bartended at summerfest in Milwaukee.
I live on a farm in the summer and I am the eldest of five kids. I also went to the Waldorf school as a kid and did not learn how to read until fifth grade. I bail hay and enjoy riding
horses.
One of my favorite things about Yale is the ski team.

Ted Pataki
I spent the summer living in my fraternity house right in New Haven while employed by the Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs. Additionally, I spent a good amount of time working out with the team. In my free time, I studied Latin for my major in Classical Civilization and read several books, mostly biographies.
As a sophomore, I was the executive director of the Yale College Republicans and participated several times in political debates on the University radio station. Likewise, with a fellow TDer, we contested for the "Yale Trivia Challenge" radio contest, and came in second place to Branford.
Yale and other first-rate Ivy League schools are among the only places in the world where young men of both exceptional athletic AND intellectual ability come together for a common cause. I feel like I am part of one of America's finest traditions, and in the company of some of the country's finest young men.

Ralph Plumb
I worked in New Haven for J. Bush & Co., a financial services company that deals with portfolio administration. I was able to perform many different tasks including reconciling accounts, research, interacting with clients and other things.
The best thing about Yale is that it provides an atmosphere where students get to interact with other students they would never have if not for the school. Our football team is
comprised of close friends who enjoy competing on the field and enjoy each others company off.

Barton Simmons
Because of the torn ACL I suffered in spring practice, the first half of my summer consisted of reconstructive surgery and rehab for my knee at home in Nashville. When my knee had progressed enough, my doctor cleared me to come back up to Yale where I could work out with the team and Coach Novak and rehab with the trainers up here. I've been working in the Yale Athletic Department doing odd jobs and helping out with NYSP camp as well as working in the Law Library. Last summer I also visited Palo Alto, Calif., to watch my sister run in the USA nationals and Santo Domingo to watch her run in the PAN-American games.
One of my many nicknames is The Catfish.
My favorite thing about Yale University and the football program is just the other guys on the team. I think we're probably as close of a group of guys as you'll find anywhere from the seniors on down.

Don Smith
Yale football has been a part of my family for a long time. My grandfather saw his first game in 1938 and has been to over 185 since then. His father, my great-grandfather, had attended over 300 games, including the Harvard-Yale game in 1981, after which he passed away.

Ted Stem
This summer I worked in the New York State Office of Federal Affairs for Governor Pataki. It was very intersting working on Capitol Hill. I attended Congressional hearings on everything from SPAM mail to national security. I learned a great deal and also had a great time living in D.C. with Dickey Shanor, Andy Levy, and Derek Carraciola.
In addition, I recently started a band with Ryan King. We do some cover songs and also sing improv, often making fun of our friends and roommates.
I live with Alex Faherty, Eric Wenzel, Ben Breunig, Ryan King, Rob Wills, Jeff Mroz, Ralph Plumb, Rory Hennessey, Tom Ebinger, Bryant Deiffenbacher, and Ken Estrera.
I ran cross country as a freshmen in high school and didn't play football until my sophomore year. I was by far the worst runner on the team and lost to all the girls.

Shomari Taylor
I went to Ireland and England last June with the Yale track team and competed against Oxford and Cambridge. After that I worked as a sports counselor at a summer camp at my high school.
My favorite thing about the football program is the way all the players, especially the upperclassmen, welcomed the freshmen into the program.

Craig Tomasino
I worked for an independent business called Domark's and tried to golf as much as I could.
My favorite thing about Yale football is the camaraderie among the players and the university as a whole. I really feel at home here.

Rob Wills
This summer I was an intern for Robert K. Futterman and Associates, a retail real estate firm in New York City. My responsibilities included re-mapping the city for a new computer program and taking digital pictures of potential properties.
Last year, over spring break, Alvin Cowan, Ryan King and I visited my family's
ranch in Richards, Texas. One night Alvin went out to get firewood and came back with a tall tale about killing coyotes. Members of our team got wind of this and nicknamed him "the coyote killer."
This is the best group of guys I've ever been around and I especially like the way that my class (junior) and the senior class are so close. I think it gives us even more cohesiveness for the season.

Tyler Wells
Over the summer I went back home to Haddam, Conn., where I am partner in a landscaping business. We have about 50 lawn-cutting customers and we do tree removal as well. I also work out at Wesleyan University, which is only 15 minutes from my house.
I always wanted to come to Yale. I did five years at Avon Old Farms and began school there with aspirations of playing hockey at Yale. I never thought about football until my junior year or so. Somehow, football really picked up for me, and here I am,
a football player at Yale and I couldn't be happier.
My favorite thing about the Yale football program is the coaching
staff. I like every coach that I have dealt with and feel as if they have my best interests in mind. They are an extremely dedicated group, and I know I will value their guidance and support for many years to come.

Carl Williott
This summer I worked as an assistant at the Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote law firm. I also golfed, went to a few concerts and traveled to Hilton Head for vacation.
My grandfather, Carl DePasqua, was the head football coach at Pitt.
My favorite thing about Yale is the freedom you have, and my favorite thing about the football program is that the coaching staff means business but makes it fun for the players at the same time.